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If you want to do something as a techie, I would suggest helping out projects like the ones found here: https://github.com/topics/climate-change https://github.

If you want to do something as a techie, I would suggest helping out projects like the ones found here: https://github.com/topics/climate-change https://github.com/topics/climate-change I would also suggest joining communities like https://climateaction.tech/ https://climateaction.tech/

xdze2 7y ago
I would like to add this article by Bret Victor: "What can a technologist do about climate change? (A personal view)" http://worrydream.com/ClimateChange/ http://worrydream.com/ClimateChange/
- layoric 7y ago
  This piece by Brett Victor gave me the push to focus more on what work I do rather than just focusing on personal wealth + career. I ended up being employee #1 at solar forecasting company that is targeting the intermittency problem of renewables. If you’re in a privileged enough situation, I’d highly recommend renewable energy sector, lots of problems where applying technical skill can be extremely impactful.
perfunctory 7y ago
It took me a very long time (years) to come to terms with the idea that as a techie I can't do anything to help climate. Tech projects is just an excuse to stay in my comfort zone. A very uncomfortable realization.
- aww_dang 7y ago
  Everyone has power over their consumption choices.
- spodek 7y ago
  Do you not think about living by your values as a matter of integrity? I don't not steal to stop others from stealing. I don't steal because I don't want to hurt others. If everyone in the world stole, I still wouldn't. If the whole world pollutes, I'm still going to avoid polluting as much as I can.
  - perfunctory 7y ago
    > Do you not think about living by your values as a matter of integrity? I am not sure I understand the context of the question. Does my comment somehow imply I don't?
leocassarani 7y ago
And if you're eligible to vote in the UK, vote Labour in the December 12th general election: https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/a-green-industrial-revolution/ https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/a-green-industrial-revolutio... Likewise support Green New Deal politicians in the US and elsewhere.
- tonyedgecombe 7y ago
  The unions aren't going to let Labour do anything serious about climate change. The idea of green growth is probably false: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13563467.2019.1598964 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13563467.2019.15...
- rayiner 7y ago
  > Likewise support Green New Deal politicians in the US and elsewhere. If we are really trying to avert climate change, how is spending trillions on labor unions and guaranteed jobs going to help? If this was the plot of the movie Armageddon, and there was an asteroid hurtling towards earth, would your planned respond spend pages talking about unions, wealth inequality, indigenous people, and guaranteed healthcare, jobs, and housing? If climate change is really imminent and existential threat that requires “war time mobilization” then how can we afford to water down our response with these tangential things? Under the Green New Deal you’d spend trillions more a year on healthcare, housing, etc. For that money you could buy up the major oil companies like Exxon (market cap $300 billion) and keep the oil in the ground. You could make the US carbon neutral using existing or near-term CO2 recapture technology. You could bankroll India and China to keep their fossil fuels in the ground and build out fully renewable capacity. You could invest in renewables technology, nuclear, carbon capture at the same time. If you sincerely believed that climate change was an existential crisis, why would you divert 90%+ of the force of the “war time mobilization” on social programs? In my view, the Green new deal has done incalculable damage to the environmental movement. It is a transparent and cynical attempt to piggy-back traditional left wing politics onto the environmental movement, undermining its credibility and seriousness.
  - matthewdgreen 7y ago

xdze2 7y ago

I would like to add this article by Bret Victor: "What can a technologist do about climate change? (A personal view)" http://worrydream.com/ClimateChange/ http://worrydream.com/ClimateChange/

layoric 7y ago
This piece by Brett Victor gave me the push to focus more on what work I do rather than just focusing on personal wealth + career. I ended up being employee #1 at solar forecasting company that is targeting the intermittency problem of renewables. If you’re in a privileged enough situation, I’d highly recommend renewable energy sector, lots of problems where applying technical skill can be extremely impactful.

perfunctory 7y ago

It took me a very long time (years) to come to terms with the idea that as a techie I can't do anything to help climate. Tech projects is just an excuse to stay in my comfort zone. A very uncomfortable realization.

aww_dang 7y ago
Everyone has power over their consumption choices.
spodek 7y ago
Do you not think about living by your values as a matter of integrity? I don't not steal to stop others from stealing. I don't steal because I don't want to hurt others. If everyone in the world stole, I still wouldn't. If the whole world pollutes, I'm still going to avoid polluting as much as I can.
- perfunctory 7y ago
  > Do you not think about living by your values as a matter of integrity? I am not sure I understand the context of the question. Does my comment somehow imply I don't?

leocassarani 7y ago

And if you're eligible to vote in the UK, vote Labour in the December 12th general election: https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/a-green-industrial-revolution/ https://labour.org.uk/manifesto/a-green-industrial-revolutio... Likewise support Green New Deal politicians in the US and elsewhere.

tonyedgecombe 7y ago
The unions aren't going to let Labour do anything serious about climate change. The idea of green growth is probably false: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13563467.2019.1598964 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13563467.2019.15...
rayiner 7y ago
> Likewise support Green New Deal politicians in the US and elsewhere. If we are really trying to avert climate change, how is spending trillions on labor unions and guaranteed jobs going to help? If this was the plot of the movie Armageddon, and there was an asteroid hurtling towards earth, would your planned respond spend pages talking about unions, wealth inequality, indigenous people, and guaranteed healthcare, jobs, and housing? If climate change is really imminent and existential threat that requires “war time mobilization” then how can we afford to water down our response with these tangential things? Under the Green New Deal you’d spend trillions more a year on healthcare, housing, etc. For that money you could buy up the major oil companies like Exxon (market cap $300 billion) and keep the oil in the ground. You could make the US carbon neutral using existing or near-term CO2 recapture technology. You could bankroll India and China to keep their fossil fuels in the ground and build out fully renewable capacity. You could invest in renewables technology, nuclear, carbon capture at the same time. If you sincerely believed that climate change was an existential crisis, why would you divert 90%+ of the force of the “war time mobilization” on social programs? In my view, the Green new deal has done incalculable damage to the environmental movement. It is a transparent and cynical attempt to piggy-back traditional left wing politics onto the environmental movement, undermining its credibility and seriousness.
- matthewdgreen 7y ago